Third party insurance soon to be compulsory

[Lou Girardin]

WTF?? This is the first time I've seen this arguement applied to NZ. Every other time it's '...blah blah blah...NZ just follows Australia/America/England...blah blah...'.

For a long time I also believed compulsary insurance was a great idea, and it may still be, but it is not without it's flaws. As pointed out to me by a good friend, show me a country with compulsary insurance where the insurance companies haven't raped the consumer.

As long as it's some slack-jawed mouth breathing recidivist boy-racer getting raped, I won't lose sleep over it.
I've insured my vehicles since I bought my first car, so every other bugger can do it too.

Unfortunately, I can see lack of insurance as being a low priority for enforcement. Perhaps they can tie it to reg and wof's.

[yungatart]

Maybe its a good idea in theory - but how is it going to work? Tacked on to vehicle rego or WOF? How, then, are those who don't rego or WOF their vehicles going to pay? What about if you already have insurance? Will you get a rebate/refund?
There are plenty of ways to avoid insurance if you don't want to pay, and those tossers who currently don't have any will continue to not have any, wether it is made compulsory or not. It will be just another law that people will choose not to compy with and the rest of us will be penalised in our pockets, yet again.

[sAsLEX]

As long as it's some slack-jawed mouth breathing recidivist boy-racer getting raped, I won't lose sleep over it.
I've insured my vehicles since I bought my first car, so every other bugger can do it too.

Unfortunately, I can see lack of insurance as being a low priority for enforcement. Perhaps they can tie it to reg and wof's.

Like you have said most people hold insurance already, so surely making it compulsory wouldnt affect you as you already hold insurance?

Wouldnt it be a matter of having your name in a DB accessible to police (like the licensing one) that has your insurance details in it? And if you dont, you get to pay some more Roadside tax?

[skidMark]

BUT, the insurance should be for the person not the vehicle :ie: If i want to ride a mates bike and his insurace policy wont cover the bike while im riding it, then my insurace will cover it so long as im not breaching any laws.

Semi good idea but insurance companies won't do that soooo...

STAY




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DRUGS

[davereid]

You can get third party insurance for a motorcycle in this country very cheaply - $55 per year for my XL1200. Compare the UK, same insurance cost UK700.

The ONLY thing compulsory insurance will do is make it expensive.

Harry DunderHead even admitted his motive was to price motorcyclists and boy racers off the road.

If you are silly enough to drive without cheap insurance thats your (stupid) choice, but if this law gets through just watch the cost rise.

[Ixion]

You can get third party insurance for a motorcycle in this country very cheaply - $55 per year for my XL1200. Compare the UK, same insurance cost UK700.

The ONLY thing compulsory insurance will do is make it expensive.

Harry DunderHead even admitted his motive was to price motorcyclists and boy racers off the road.

If you are silly enough to drive without cheap insurance thats your (stupid) choice, but if this law gets through just watch the cost rise.

[sigh]. For the umpteenth time. The reason it's cheap in NZ and dear in the UK is because third party insurance in the UK is NOT THE SAME as third party insurance if NZ. In the UK the insurer has to cover against a potential 10 million pound third party personal injury claim if the insured leaves someone a paraplegic. The insurance for any potential property claim is chickenfeed. IN NZ the insurer DOES NOT AND WILL NOT have to provide cover against personal injury . BECAUSE THAT IS PROVIDED BY ACC. Which you pay at least $200 odd per year (in my case $1200 odd) .

So unless the insurance companies are given a loop hole for totally unprincipled exploitation (not that they need much loophole), compulsary insurance will NOT work as a youth clobbering device. Even on a hotted up Subaru, it would not be (given genuine acturial costing) more than a couple of hundred a year. Chicken feed compared to what they spend on bling. And yes, I know , all you Poms think ACC should be abolished. Is that whinge #67, or are we up to #70 yet. Ain't gonna happen, and a damn good thing too.

[Quartida]

I have to back Ixion here. New Zealand has an unusual situation with ACC. Such a situation is pretty much unheard of in the rest of the world.

Much as we want to bitch about the cost, we're bloody lucky. I bet you could find a number of people on this site who owe their lack of ongoing physical problems to ACC funded physio and/or doctors. It's not without it's flaws, but I personally think that the fact that if I have an accident I know I have some kind of cover is a relief. Not to mention the fact that no-one can sue my ass if I accidentally cause them to get whiplash.

[The_Dover]

And yes, I know , all you Poms think ACC should be abolished. Is that whinge #67, or are we up to #70 yet. Ain't gonna happen, and a damn good thing too.

I don't think it should.

I've had some great physio on rugby injuries for free and it paid for 3 months of daily dressing changes when I crashed my scooter.

[yungatart]

I have to back Ixion here. New Zealand has an unusual situation with ACC. We are covered for any kind of personal injury, a situation that is pretty much unheard of in the rest of the world.

Much as we want to bitch about the cost, we're bloody lucky. I bet you could find a number of people on this site who owe their lack of ongoing physical problems to ACC funded physio and/or doctors. It's not without it's flaws, but I personally think that the fact that if I have an accident I know I have some kind of cover is a relief. Not to mention the fact that no-one can sue my ass for accientally hitting their car.

Yeah, agree with all of that , except it is waaaay cheaper to get private work injury cover if you are self employed, so much so that the government decided that ACC was the ONLY way to go - need to fund their overseas trips, junkets and pensions somehow, I guess.
I still don't see how compulsory 3rd party insurance will work, given the numbers of unregistered, unwarranted vehicles on our roads, and the drivers who are disqualified or otherwise unlicenced.
How will they charge it? At what point in the system will you pay your 3rd party and to whom?

[Lou Girardin]

Like you have said most people hold insurance already, so surely making it compulsory wouldnt affect you as you already hold insurance?

Wouldnt it be a matter of having your name in a DB accessible to police (like the licensing one) that has your insurance details in it? And if you dont, you get to pay some more Roadside tax?

I can't source the figures at the moment, but the number of uninsured vehicles is significant. Then you have the anecdotal evidence of people who are faced with $5000 - $10,000 excesses for their Evo's, Sti's etc who decide to just take the risk. They're the ones who'll punt you off the road then disappear.

[Lou Girardin]

[sigh].

So unless the insurance companies are given a loop hole for totally unprincipled exploitation (not that they need much loophole), compulsary insurance will NOT work as a youth clobbering device. Even on a hotted up Subaru, it would not be (given genuine acturial costing) more than a couple of hundred a year. Chicken feed compared to what they spend on bling. And yes, I know , all you Poms think ACC should be abolished. Is that whinge #67, or are we up to #70 yet. Ain't gonna happen, and a damn good thing too.

Except that, insurance companies will not cover your aforementioned slack-jawed mouth breathing yokel and they will be on the road at their (illegal) risk. Then all we need is for Scummy, Spud, Indoo etc to do their what they do best.

[Ixion]

Why not? The worst they are up for is property damage to an expensive car, but the risk is relatively small. The premium may be high compared to other drivers but you are comparing a few hundred for said slack jawed etc with maybe $60 for other drivers. That's not much when you look at what they spend on bling. And most boi racers aren't bad insurance risks (mainly, admittedly, cos they spend most of their time posing, which doesn't pose much risk to other road users).Most of them can drive not too bad, too.

And I suspect that any insurer that tried to deliberately exclude any specific class of driver without sound acturial data to back it up would be in front of a civil rights lawsuit right smartish.

Face facts folks. This idea just does not fly. The only reason it "works" in the UK is cos the UK is barbaric and behind the times and doesn't have anything comparable to ACC.

[Timber020]

Trust the insurance companies to do the responsible thing

YEAH RIGHT


This is going to be very expensive and those who arent insured now who have the accidents are not going to change.

[Lou Girardin]

And I suspect that any insurer that tried to deliberately exclude any specific class of driver without sound acturial data to back it up would be in front of a civil rights lawsuit right smartish.

I beg to disagree. There is a wealth of evidence that shows young drivers in powerful cars to be a less than desirable risk factor.
While insurance in the UK is expensive (depending on where you live etc) there is no doubt that it makes powerful cars and bikes a no no for young people.

[Motu]

Insurance companies have to pull their head in on 3rd party restrictions too.All my vehicles I buy at zero value because they are normally non runners when I pick them up.They normaly have a minimum value...and how do I value my $500 Pajero? My latest drama with them is 3rd party fire and theft...I want to take my personal vehicles out of the company insurance cover and do them as personal vehicles.For 3rd party fire and theft they want them fully garaged...you can park them on the street with full cover.I don't have to ask why they make it so hard to have minimum cover - it's always money with these guys.